An Empty Compartment
by OstrasizedPotato
Summary: It's Lily Evan's fourth year at Hogwarts, and she and her friends can't seem to find an empty compartment on the train. They prepare to kick someone out, only to find out inside is James Potter, Lily's nemesis...Chaos ensues.
1. An Empty Compartment

_An Empty Compartment...Chapter One_

Walking purposefully, I faltered as I heard a shrill squeal, and then—

"_Lily!_"

I turned with a grin towards my best friend of three years, Lola Taylor. Releasing the handle of the trolley sporting my trunk, I met her with a monster hug.

"It's _so_ good to see you!" After going the whole summer without seeing her face-to-face, it _was _good to be reacquainted with my friend. "Let's find a compartment, shall we?" I said, eyeing the huge clock on the wall of the train station. "And then you can tell me all about your summer!"

Nodding in agreement, Lola hurriedly dragged her luggage over towards me. After heaving the hefty baggage onto the train, we set off to find an empty compartment. Lola and I waded through the crowded aisle, searching apparently in vain for a vacant area. After passing a dozen or so compartments, and still not finding an empty one, we _did _catch a glimpse ahead of us of our two fellow Gryffindor fourth years, Katrina Reyes and Amanda Davis.

"Mandy!" I called. "Katrina!"

They spun around and waved a greeting, then waited for me and Lola to reach them. I took in the differences in their appearances, noting that Katrina's dark brown, thick, wavy hair now had side bangs added to it, and that her already dark skin looked especially tan. Mandy looked almost the same, her lighter russet hair falling to her shoulders like it always did; only the heavier smattering of freckles across her cheeks revealed that we truly had just come back from a sun-drenched Britain summer.

"Any luck with a compartment?" Lola asked our two other friends, squinting around as if there should have been a sign saying where the empty compartments were.

"Well, obviously not," Katrina scowled. "Everyone's very spread out; some of these compartments have only had two or three people in them."

Just then, our quiet voice of reason spoke up: "Well, we've been through less than half the train. Why don't we continue on before we start carping?" Mandy raised her eyebrows pointedly at Katrina after finishing this proclamation.

"I wasn't carping I was just pointing out—" Katrina started, shooting a glare at Mandy.

I exchanged a smile with Lola. Although Katrina and Mandy were best friends, they argued like an old couple. Be warned though! Point it out to them, and they would _instantly_ turn on you.

All four of us were friends, but Lola and I were _best _friends, while Mandy and Katrina shared a bond they didn't have with us. Rest assured, we were all very close (who _wouldn't_ be, after living together every school year for three years?), but there was something Lola and I had, that we didn't share with Katrina and Mandy. The same could be said for them in turn.

Eventually, as we moved further down the train, the torrential flow of students thinned as they found empty compartments or spotted their friends, already seated within the small boxes of the train. My friends and I, however, unfortunately seemed to be out of luck. Whenever we thought we had glimpsed a suitable compartment, it turned out to have a couple of intimidating seventh years or some snotty Slytherin kids already occupying it.

Katrina's eyes widened with exasperation as she peered through the glass in the very last compartment of the train to see that there were a couple of timid looking first years nervously saying nothing, as they eyed their new, unfamiliar acquaintances. Uncertainty overwhelmed their young faces.

"You _guys_," Katrina whined. "This was the last compartment! They're all full." A look of thoughtfulness consumed her face. "We should go in there and scare them out!" she said excitedly.

"No!" Lola said. "How would you feel if someone did that to _us_, when _we_ were in first year?"

Katrina shrugged, looking skeptical. "No one did, and I haven't got a timeturner, so..." Her hand moved threateningly close to the handle of the compartment door.

I sighed impatiently. "Come _on _you Katrina, if we're going to kick someone out, at least make it someone who deserves it. And, preferably, we should find a compartment that's _not_ almost full."

Katrina's hand seemed to stretch a couple more inches towards the compartment handle, before she dropped it to her side, a look of deepest regret etched into her face. I laughed at her pout and twirled back towards the front of the train. Mandy and Lola were already ahead of me.

"If we _must_," muttered Katrina ill temperedly, grudgingly turning to follow me. Her footsteps were sullen as she trailed us. An only child with doting parents, Katrina was used to getting her way. Lola, Mandy, and I, knowing this, were used to her bouts of crankiness at not having something go her way.

After walking for a few minutes, Lola gasped and said, "Here! There's only one person in here." Lola paused. "What is she _doing?_"

"No matter!" Katrina said brightly, overcoming her surliness. "Come on, let's kick her out, my legs _hurt, _from all this standing and walking."

Quietly pushing open the door, and stepping inside the compartment, Lola opened her mouth to announce our presence, but instead gasped. She glanced at me, her eyes wide, and attempted to shut the door, but was unsuccessful due to the fact that I had thrust out my hand, suspicious of her fleeting look thrown my way. I forced my way into the compartment, curious at what Lola had been so keen to keep me from seeing.

I soon found out: What we had taken to be one girl, was actually a girl and a boy, so tightly wrapped around one another, it was hard to tell that they were two people and not one. The girl's back was towards the compartment door, her long hair obscuring most of her face. The boy's lips were locked together firmly with hers, and both their eyes were shut tight.

I let out a particularly loud gasp of revulsion, and the boy's eyes opened with surprise. My nausea increased as two hazel orbs met mine, and I caught a glimpse of unruly black hair. Not only had I walked in on someone's snog session, I had walked in on James Potter's.

Untangling his hands quickly from the girl, he shoved her away and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes were still wide as saucers.

"James," the girl with whom he had been sharing the makeout session protested, disappointedly.

"Evans—" He croaked, ignoring the girl.

"Potter." I said coolly. "Don't let us interrupt you! By all means, carry on with your former... activities." I turned to go, a look of disgust on my face. To my astonishment, I saw Katrina blocking my way.

"No," she said, decisively.

"_What?_" I said, incredulously confused.

"Lily, I am tired, my legs hurt, and I want to sit down," Katrina continued. She passed me, going into the compartment, and then plopped down on the seat closest to the window, opposite Potter. Mandy followed her, raising her eyebrows pleadingly. I turned to Lola, preparing to walk with her out of there to find another compartment—_any_ other compartment—only to see her smiling coyly at me.

"C'mon Lils. James won't continue that—at least not while _you're_ around." She followed suit of the rest of my friends, and plunked down on the seat next to Mandy. I blushed angrily, cursing my good-for-nothing friends.

"_Traitors._" I grumbled, but sat down nonetheless. I didn't want to spend the train ride by myself! Glaring daggers at Potter I said loudly, "You can go now, Potter!"

"I—what?" He said, plainly bemused. "_Me_ go?"

"You go," I confirmed.

"_What_?" His brows furrowed, irritably. "In case you didn't realize, Evans, I was here _first_." My friend's and his snog partner's heads swiveled back and forth between us. James Potter and Lily Evans were infamous for their heated arguments.

"Well, in case _you _didn't notice, Potter, my friends and I outnumber you, four to two." I threw half a glance towards the girl. "Or maybe I should say four to one and a half. Knowing the kinds of people you usually date, she probably wouldn't count as one." I smirked, satisfied at a good insult.

To my surprise, Potter blushed a dull red. "We're not dating," he mumbled.

I grinned at his lack of a reply, and pressed my lead. "What, Potter? No witty comeback? No clever retort? Losing your touch, are you?" His eyes narrowed, and I could tell I had struck a nerve. James Potter, arrogant as he was, couldn't bear it if people told him he wasn't good in any aspect.

"Think what you like, Evans," he said coolly slinging an arm around his 'friend.' Our eyes met, and held, his unperturbedly defiant, mine glaring daggers. There was a tight silence, and then I couldn't hold back.

"_So_,Potter?"

"So, what?" He asked, raising a calculating eyebrow.

"When're you leaving?" I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

With a grimace and an air of annoyance, he replied, "We've been through this Evans! I was here first!"

I opened my mouth, rapidly coming up with a counter, and in the back of my mind I distantly heard Mandy murmur, "This is gonna be one _long _train ride..."

THE END

A/N: Well, originally I was going to have this be a one-shot, but I think it might have potential for an actual story. What do you guys think? If no one likes it much, I won't make the effort, but if you want me continue, I will. It would also allow me time to go more in depth with the characters we don't know—it's hard to write three whole characters in one short story.

Well, please review and tell me what you think!


	2. An Empty Desk

_An Empty Compartment—Chapter Two_

I jumped to my feet as the train screeched to a slightly unsteady halt. I couldn't have gotten out of there faster—Potter and I had spent the majority of the train ride bickering without end. The rest of the journey was spent in rough silence, each of us seeing how long we could hold a glower in the other's direction. Potter's snog acquaintance had left soon after my friends and my arrival—a few awkward minutes was all it took for her to say, 'Umm, James? I think I'm going to go find my friends...'

"I'll meet you guys by the carriages, okay?" I called, my hair swishing around the frame of the door before my friends could reply.

I was one of the first students off the train. About half a dozen other kids milled around looking self-conscious and plainly waiting for their friends. I joined their ranks, pausing by a carriage and observing the door of the train for a glimpse of my classmates. Finally Katrina appeared, followed by Mandy and Lola. I beckoned them over to me, and we piled into a carriage.

As it set off towards the distant silhouette of Hogwarts, Katrina opened her mouth. "So, d'you guys reckon classes are going to be much harder this year?"

"Hope not, but I bet they'll spring a bunch of stuff on us next year, with it being O.W.L. time and all..."

A discussion of classes eventually turned into talk of teachers, which in the end turned into chatter about the students of our year. These conversations lasted us all the way until we plopped into four consecutive seats along the Gryffindor table, at which point we focused our attention on the Sorting Hat and the long line of young students anxiously waiting to be sorted. As all the babble died out, the hat opened its mouth and began to sing.

The rest of the night seemed to pass as though time had sped up—I barely remembered the rest of the sorting, the feast, walking up to the girl's dormitory in Gryffindor tower, and climbing into bed. Tucking the sheets firmly underneath my chin, I closed my eyes and was almost instantly asleep.

* * *

I woke late, the fairly loud talk of my three dorm mates coaxing me out of my deep sleep. I rolled over, practically in slow motion, and pulled back the curtain of my four-poster bed.

"Lily?" Lola asked, glancing around at the sound of the rustling the bed was making.

"Hi," I mumbled, still half asleep.

"Lily," Lola continued, looking worried. "Do you know what time it is?"

I yawned. "Can't be that late, can it?" I murmured sleepily.

Katrina rolled her eyes. "How about we only have about 20 minutes until class starts? We all," she gestured to herself, Mandy, and Lola, "thought you had already headed down to breakfast. You're _usually_ an early bird."

The startling revelation on how close to class it was sent me hurtling out of my bed. I glanced around frantically and pulled some robes off of the floor. I looked up at my friends who were watching me with a mixture of anxiety and amusement playing on their faces.

"You guys go ahead without me. I'll catch up," I said, trying to put on my socks and brush my hair at the same time. They started out the door of the dormitory, Mandy calling 'Good luck!' as she followed Katrina.

I was dead. There was no way I would be on time to my first class, and _definitely _no way I could have breakfast or take a shower. I almost cried with exasperation as I glanced at my schedule: My first class was Transfiguration, the class with possibly the strictest teacher in the school. I was _so _dead.

I buttoned up my cloak, only realizing at the end that I had mismatched two buttons. As I hurried to redo these buttons, I jammed my foot in my shoe and hopped to the bathroom. I splashed some cool water on my face and hastened to brush my teeth. Pulling my hair into a messy ponytail I crammed my Transfiguration books into my bag and ran out the door.

I was feet away from the portrait hole when I remembered something. Running back upstairs, I grabbed my wand off the top of my dresser. A quick glance at the clock told me I had about a minute to get to Transfiguration.

I ran down flights of stairs, sprinted across corridors, and sidled through the few hidden shortcuts that I knew of. I arrived at the Transfiguration classroom out of breath and quietly pushed the door open. Perhaps I could sneak in without—

"Ms. Evans." I cringed as Professor McGonagall eyed me with a disapproving look. "Late on the first day?"

"Er—I'm sorry, Professor, you see, I was just—"

"I don't need your excuses, just take a seat, please, Ms. Evans."

I glanced for the first time at the arrangement of desks in the classroom. They all looked occupied. My eyes searched for the empty seat I knew must exist somewhere in the classroom. Finally I found it: It was in the very back corner of the classroom. I took a step towards it, but stopped as my eyes took in the desk's surroundings.

"Ms. Evans?" McGonagall had spotted my falter.

"I—," was all I could say.

Now she was just plain annoyed. "Unless there is a valid reason for you not wanting the desk in the back, Ms. Evans, I suggest that you carry on to your seat. You've already delayed the lesson enough, don't you think?"

I hung my head, embarrassed, and trudged towards the desk in the back of the classroom. I sat down and plopped my bag on the top of the desk. I turned my head to the right, and there was James Potter, smirking at me.

"Hey Evans, long time no see," he whispered.

"Not long enough," I muttered back, attempting to focus on what McGonagall was saying.

"Ouch. You ought to be nicer to the person you'll be sitting next to for the rest of the year."

"_What?_" My voice rose shrilly.

Professor McGonagall paused in her explanation of whatever spell we were working on, and looked at me wearily. "Yes, Ms. Evans, you _will_ have to grip your wand lightly, as opposed to very firmly. If you were paying attention, perhaps you would know why."

I turned beet red, every fiber of me hating the person sitting to my right, who was once more whispering up a storm.

"Yeah, Evans, you must have missed McGonagall say it because you were late and all, but these are the seats we'll keep all year." He gave a self-satisfied sort of smile, and I sunk low into my chair, wishing with all my heart that I would keep sinking straight into the floor, never to arise again. I was in for one hell of a year with Potter sitting next to me.

* * *

Yay, second chapter up. Sorry it took so long, but if you didn't know, I'm a very inconsistant updater. Thanks everyone who reviewed the first chapter, and I hope everyone liked this chapter too. Review and tell me what you think!


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